08/05/2009
By: Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor
Catalan teenager causes early upset on disappointing day for Slovakia
Currently standing at no.82 on the European Girls’ Rankings and seeded no.32 in Platja d’Aro, she beat Slovakia’s Andrea Daubnerova in five games in her opening group contest; Daubnerova currently stands at no.22 on the European list and in Spain is the no.9 seed.
Nadina Riera won 12-10, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9.
Total Concentration
"I was totally focused, my legs were fast today and I played with a high level of intensity”, said Nadine Riera. “I did not think that I would win this match but I had nothing to lose, it is one of my best ever wins."
It was victory against a higher ranked player and of course that is always something to remember.
Higher Level
"She's better than me but I played a great match”, continued Nadina Riera. “I played really well, if not I would not have won."
Furthermore, the coach was delighted.
No Unforced Errors
"Nadina played very well, she followed the tactics”, explained Peter Engel, Spanish Head Coach and the Head Coach of the High Performance Centre in Sant Cugat Valles near Barcelona.
"She did not make easy mistakes”, he concluded.
More Heartache
Defeat for Anna Daubernova at the expense of Nadina Riera and there was to be further heartache for the Slovakian.
In her next encounter she suffered at the hands of Luxembourg’s Tessy Gonderinger, who recovered from a two games to nil deficit to record a nail biting victory over the Slovakian.
Places Determined
Gonderinger finished in first place in the group, also accounting for Riera; she beat Daubernova 5-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 13-11 before accounting for Riera 4-11, 11-9, 11-9, 13-11.
Tessy Gonderinger and Nadina Riera finished in first and second places in the group and thus progressed to the main draw; whilst for Andrea Daubnerova, it was third place and no further progress. All three girls defeated the Czech Republic’s Daniela Rozinkova.
Injury
Defeat for the no.9 seed on what was not a good day for Slovakia; Simona Lazarcikova, seeded no.7, was forced to withdraw through injury.
Favourites Succeed
However for the top seven in ranked order it was a successful day.
Successes came the way of Sabine Winter (Germany), Krisztina Ambrus (Hungary), Magdalena Szczerkowska (Poland), Kathrin Mulbach (Germany), Dora Madarasz (Hungary) and Klaudia Kusinska (Poland) as it did for the no.8 seed, Aneta Kucerova of the Czech Republic.
